Egypt’s much-talked about investment conference in Sharm el-Sheik is taking place later this week – and the country is targeting $60 billion in foreign direct investment. This is to achieve a growth rate of 7% over the next four years.
The country announced a raft of new legislation that will make it a more attractive investment destination. Planning minister, Ashraf al-Arabi says Egypt also plans to lower the unemployment rate from 13% to below 10% and is working on decreasing its budget deficit.
The government will also introduce a new electricity law that will open the door to private sector investment in the new and renewable energy sector. The law will be published by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi within this month.
There’s also been work done on a new civil service law, that gives public sector employees the option to retire at 55 instead of 60 without losing any benefits. Egypt suffers from a bloated state bureaucracy, with over 6 million employees.
